Boys, Girls, and Broomsticks
by just the messenger
Summary: You never really found out what happened when Lily, James, and Snape went to Hogwarts. What if Lily had a best friend with the intellect of an Auror? Who really tipped James off about Snape? And how does love, learning, and Lord Voldemort fit into this?
1. We're off!

**Boys, Girls, and Broomsticks**

Hey. I've finally decided to write a Harry Potter fan fiction. The title just came to me suddenly. I think it fits the story pretty good. Anyway, the summery:

**You never **_**really**_** knew what happened when James Potter, Lily Evans, Severus Snape, and the rest of the gang went to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. What if Lily had a best friend with the beauty of a Veela and the intellect of an Auror? Who says that Sirius Black never fancied a girl at school? Who **_**really**_** tipped James off that Snape was going under the Whomping Willow? And how exactly did love, learning, and Lord Voldemort fit into this? Read on to find out!**

**Chapter one: We're off**

My name is Severus Tobias Snape. My middle name officially belongs to my father, and my first to my grandfather on my mother's side. It means _to break apart _or_ to sever._ I loathe my name most in my trivial existence.

My mother is a witch, and my father a Muggle. I am not proud to have his surname, not because he is non magical, but because he is everything else. Hateful, sour, and abusive. He and my mother are fighting constantly. As you have probably guessed, I don't spend a lot of time at home. Mostly, I walk around Spinner's end, until I come to Surrey, where I sit inside of a dismal playground for a while.

One day, when I was around 11, I can't quite remember, I was laying on my back, watching the clouds form very non interesting shapes, when I heard voices. I was quite surprised at first, as people did not usually come by here. When I looked up, I saw two young girls swinging on the nearby swings. They looked about my age. The shortest one had long, thick red hair and emerald green eyes. She had a nice clean white shirt on, with pale blue corduroy pants. She had a pale, pointed face, and was laughing cheerfully as she swung higher and higher. I watched her curiously. Her comrade was watching her with fear as her friend began to swing almost impossibly high. She had straight blonde hair, and was taller than the other girl. There skin color matched perfectly. The red haired one's laugh became louder and happier, and I had to admit I liked it. It was high and "little kid-dish", but very pretty. My mother never laughed, so you could say that I was "starved". I slowly peered out from my bush. She had reached the point on her swing where she could either fall off or be thrown off.

"Lily, don't do that!" shrieked the blonde one. Lily. I liked that name. It was my mum's favorite flower. But, ignoring her friend, at the arch of the swing, Lily let go of the swing. I panicked. I almost blew my cover worrying about the red haired girl with the pretty laugh. But, to my surprise and relief, I watched as she flew quite literally over her comrade's head, twirling in the air, before coming to a graceful and light stop on the ground in front of her.

Now, I knew that there could only be two options here. Number one: I was insane. That was the term for people who saw other people doing something like that. Number two (and the more likely option): The green eyed girl was a witch, like my mum. I highly doubted that the first option was true.

"Mummy told you not to!" scolded the older looking girl, scraping the ground with her pink sandals to stop the swing, and leapt up in front of her friend, looking reproachful. "Mummy said you weren't allowed, Lily!"

"But I'm fine," assured Lily, giggling happily. "Tuney, look at his. Watch what I can do."

I saw Lily pick up a fallen flower by my hiding place. her friend followed her to my bush, and I watched the witch girl doing something with the flower. She was making it open and close, as though she were quickening the processes of blooming flora. "Stop it!" yelled Tuney. "It's not hurting you," contradicted Lily, but she threw the flower back on the ground in the clear line of my eye sight. "It's not right," scolded Tuney, but she asked "How did you do it?" seconds later with unmistakable eagerness in her voice. I didn't know exactly know what I was doing, but patience had never been my strongest virtue, and I thought that the girl should know that she was magical.

"It's obvious, isn't it?" I asked dryly. The taller girl jumped and hid behind the swings, but Lily stood her ground. Closer to her, I noticed that she was bold looking, as though she were not afraid of anything. Next to her stark white clothes, I became very self conscious of my mismatched clothing, and I swear I must have blushed. The thing is that if you have pale skin like me, its easy for people to tell if you blush, which is very annoying.

"What's obvious?" she asked.

I glanced nonchalantly at her comrade, staring at me tentatively from her swing haven. "I know what you are," I stated simply.

"What do you mean?"

"You're, you're a witch," I said softly.

Her next reaction surprised me the most. She stuck her cute little nose in the air and said, "_That,_ is_ not_ a very nice thing to say to somebody!"

I almost laughed. In the Wizard world, being told that you are magical is an absolute honor. I hadn't taken into account that witches were portrayed in very negative ways in the Muggle world. "No!" I said. I had to bite my lip to keep from snickering. I ran after her. I suddenly felt very ashamed as I watched her join her sister at the swings. "You are," I said. "You are a witch. I've been watching you for a while. But there's nothing wrong with that," I added proudly, puffing out my sadly small chest. "My mum's a witch, and I'm a wizard."

Her friend scoffed. Her laugh was like icy air. "Wizard!" she laughed. "_I _ know who _you_ are. You're that snape boy! They live down Spinner's End by the river," she added to lily. "Why have you been spying on us?"

"Haven't been _spying_," I snapped. "Wouldn't spy on you anyway. You're a muggle!"

"Lily, come on, we're leaving!" Lily followed Tuney, glaring at me behind her back. I stared sadly at the ground for a few minutes. After a while, I wdalked in the diresction that the girls had gone. By the river, Lily and Tuney were playing with the new fallen leaves. The red haired green eyed girl was laughing again. I liked the way her face lit up, like a bright candle. After a few seconds, her friend left to ask her mother something, and Lily sat on the ground. I tentatively approached her.

When she saw me approaching, I half expected her to yell at me, but instead, she turned her back on me, and gave me the silent treatment. I sat down next to her cold form. "Look," I began quietly, "I'm sorry I called you a witch. It's just, there's no other word for it where I come from. It just means a girl that can do magic. And I'm a wizard. Look, I'll prove it to you." I picked up a stick, and held it by her face. "Watch!" I saw her eyes flit to the stick. I made water spew from the tip. Lily's eyes lit up, and she grabbed the stick from my hand, and examined it. "How did you do that?" she asked curiously.

I chuckled. I never chuckled, so this form of behavior freaked me out a little. "I told you, I'm a wizard, and you're a witch. The only reason I told you was because you'll be getting your letter from Hogwarts soon."

"What's Hogwarts?"

And so, for the next hour, I launched in to a full explanation of my world. I had just finished explaining our Ministry to her.

"But I _have _done magic outside school!" I had just said that you can be punished if you do magic outside of school. "We're all right," I assured her. "We haven't got wands yet. They let you off when you're a kid and you can't help it. But once you're eleven, and they start training you, then you've got to go careful."

"It is real, isn't is?" she asked nervously. "Petunia said that you're lying to me. She says that there isn't a Hogwarts. It is real, isn't it?"

"It's real for us," I assured her. "But not for her. We'll get a letter, you and me."

"Really?" she whispered eagerly.

"Definitially." I really liked Lily. She was fun to hang out with, and it was fun actually sharing my world with someone who wasn't ashamed of it.

"And it will really come by owl?" she asked next.

"Normally, but you're a Muggle born, so someone from the school will have to come and explain to your parents."

"Does it make any difference, being Muggle born?"

The honest answer was yes. There was so much prejudice against Muggle borns where I came from, but I didn't want to hurt her. I didn't want to see her frown.

"No," I said firmly. "It doesn't make any difference."

She sighed in relief. "You've got loads of magic," I continued, "I saw that. All the time I was watching you……" I stopped. How embarrassing!

"How are things at your house?" she wondered.

"Fine," I answered curtly. Also a lie.

"They're not arguing any more?" I had let it slip that my parents did not get a long. "Oh yes, they're arguing, but it won't be that long and I'll be gone."

"Does your dad like magic?"

"He doesn't like anything much."

"Severus?"

I smiled when she said my name. "Yeah?"

"Tell me about the dementors again."

"What do you want to know about them for?" I groaned.

"If I use magic outside school…."

Oh! That's why! "They won't give you to the dementors for that! Dementors are for people who do really bad stuff. They guard the wizard prison, Azkaban. You'e not going to end up in Azkaban. You're too…….." I was going to say nice, thoughtful, smart, happy, any of those. But I blushed again and shredded more of the leaves I had been shredding. Next thing I knew, Lily had said, "Tuney!" and was hopping to her feet. "Who's spying now?" I accused.

"What's that you're wearing?" she mocked. "You're mum's blouse?"

I instantly regretted my next action. A branch had fallen unto Petunia's shoulder, and she cried. "Tuney!" said Lily, but her sister had run back home. Lily rolled her head in my direction. I was surprising how scary she could look. "Did you make that happen?" she whispered murderously.

"No," I said too quickly. "You did! You hurt her!"

I regretted my actions greatly. I did not like to see people in pain, least of all Lily Evans.

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Two months later, I was at platform 9 ¾, standing off to the side with my mother. Me and Lily had gotten our letter a month ago. We had become pretty good friends. She was someone I could easily trust, and after she forgave me for the incident, she seemed to enjoy my company for one reason or another. I was looking at her family. Her mother was tall and had Lily's fiery red hair and a very pretty smile. The father had black hair, and pale skin. They were both drinking in the situation with apparent enthusiasm. Lily appeared to be arguing about something with Petunia. I hoped that it didn't involve what I thought it did……….

My mother kissed me goodbye as I jumped on the train. Running to put my trunk away, I quickly changed into my uniform. I disliked my mismatched clothing greatly and was glad to be rid of it. I racked the compartments, trying ot find Lily, when I at last spotted her. She was sitting across from two rowdy looking boys. They both had pitched black hair, one's reached to his shoulders and the others was cropped short but very messy. They were swapping chocolate frog cards. I saw that Lily was crying. I sat across from her. "I don't want to talk to you," she said.

"Why not?"

" TUney h-h-hates me! Because we saw that letter form Dumbledore."

"So what?"

"So she's my sister!" she snapped loudly at me.

"She's only a-"

Oh yeah. Lily didn't like that word. But she didn't hear me. After a moment of silence, I said quietly, "But this is it! We're finally going to Hogwarts! Oh, Lily, you're gonna be the brightest girl there, I swear! And we're all gonna have a lot of fun, I promise! You had better be in Slytherin, though, you got that, Evans?"

She smiled her beautiful smile, lighting up her kind face. "We're off! She said happily.

"We're off!"


	2. Meeting Maria

"You'd better be in Slytherin," I told Lily again, encouraged that she had smiled at me.

"Slytherin?"

The boy with the short and messy black hair had spoken. "Who wants to be in Slytherin? I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?" He addressed the boy sitting next to him. I almost gasped. The boy had shoulder length black hair, and a very handsome, smooth face with the texture of cream. He had shrewd looking black eyes, like pools of oil. He had a devastatingly handsome smile, more like a smirk, and what bothered me was that he looked as though he could have any girl he wanted, because any girl would be lucky to have him. His lounging body and bored expression confirmed my suspicions. I hated _him_ before I hated the other boy.

"My whole family have been in Slytherin," he answered. His voice was prematurely cracking.

"Blimey," said his friend. "And I thought you were alright!" The long haired boy grinned. I realized that Lily and I had been taken out of the conversation, so I turned towards her, tuning out they're conversation, until I heard the word "Gryffindor."

"'Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart!'" shorter boy, brandishing and invisible sword at his friend. I scoffed loudly. After seeing the boy round on me, I tried to turn it into a cough, to no success.

"Got a problem with that, Shorty?" he snapped. I glared at him. "No, if you'd rather be brawny than brainy-" I would either be in Slytherin, the house of the shrewd, or Ravenclaw, but _definitely _not_ Gryffindor! _

"Where're you going, seeing as your neither?" mocked the handsome boy.

That was it. I hated this slug with every fiber of my being. And his hyena- like friend was not helping my dislike. Lily stood up, looking from one boy to the other in sincere and wonderfully open dislike. I didn't like the way the short haired boy looked at her. The other one was still laughing, but the other one couldn't stop staring. She apparently didn't notice. Good. "Come on, Severus," she sniffed, "let's find a different compartment."

The two boys imitated her voice. I grabbed her hand and tried to get out, but the staring boy tried to trip me. I hate it when people do this. It has no effect, and it is such an obvious move. "See ya, Snivellus!" yelled one of them as I slammed the door shut. I was glad to be rid of them. Lily was looking apologetically at me. "I'm sorry, Sev," she muttered, taking my hand. "It was my own fault for choosing that compartment." I liked her soft touch on my hand. I looked at her deep emerald eyes with my black ones. They were so open and honest. "It's not your fault," I contradicted, walking with her down the corridor. "Here, let's try this one." Lily opened one door. Inside, there was no one there except a young girl sitting by the window. Her honey tinted brown hair glinted in the sunlight as it hung over her face. She was reading a book, and did not look up when we entered.

"Excuse me," said Lily politely, "can we please sit here? Everywhere else is full."

The preteen looked up, and I actually gasped this time. She had soft, short bangs above her oval shaped topaz eyes. Her hair hung just over her shoulders, and she didn't look any older than me or Lily. Her smooth skin was the lightest possible shade of peach, almost caramel colored. She was not pale, but a rather creamy color, which gently waxed into her perfect pink lips. Her face was heart shaped, and her long, exquisite neck was lifted high and graceful above her Hogwarts uniform. The reason I was staring at gasped was because she was extraordinarily beautiful. More beautiful than any girl I had ever met. "Sure," she answered Lily. Her voice was mature for her age, not high and breathy, but not low; just calm. Lily smiled her beautiful smile at her, and sat across from her. I (in my infinite gracefulness) tripped over my own feet and fell into my chair. The girl smiled apologetically at me. "I'm sorry about my book bag." She pointed to a bag on the floor. It took my brain a little time to register that she was talking to me. When it did, I was sure that at least five minutes had past, and I looked in the direction of her hand. "No, it was my fault," I answered without even thinking. "Not yours, Miss-?"

"My name is Maria," she said quickly. "Just Maria." With a nervous glance at me, the preteen returned to her book. I shook my head to get rid of the fluffy white clouds surrounding it. "What are you reading?" asked Lily. She looked up again, and the fluffy white clouds came back all over again. "The Life and Times of Albus Dumbledore," she answered quietly, and took her exquisite face away again. I almost jumped in my seat at her next move. She touched something on her face, and I realized that they were glasses, round glasses, that could cover her eyes perfectly. I couldn't believe that I hadn't noticed before, though probably due to the fact that she was like a dark haired angel. It took me a few seconds to also notice that she seemed very standoffish. I could see that she kept glancing up at me, nervously, like she was inwardly torturing me and was very sorry for it. I couldn't understand it.

"I like your glasses," said Lily sweetly. Maria shot her head up, and dropped her book. "You do?" she asked, sounding confused. "You, y-you like them?"

"Yeah, they're very professional."

Maria smiled. Her smile was like a punch to the head. I had to look away just to get some air. Her smile quickly faded.

"Severus, are you okay?" asked Lily concernedly. "You're face is all red."

"I'm sorry!"

Lily and I stared at the strange girl. "I mean, uh, I, uh," she stuttered, and then went red. "I'm sorry about your face."

"What do you mean? What did you do?" I asked. I couldn't believe that this lovely girl could do anything bad to me. "Oh, nothing, I just, have said too much already." She finished in a very quiet, almost inaudible, voice. "Thanks," she added, blushing, to Lily, when she returned her book. "No problem. So, anyway, what year are you? You look like a 3rd year or something."

Maria laughed. "No, I'm a first year. You as well?"

"Yeah, me and Sev."

"Oh, I am sorry!" cried the girl. "I didn't ask for _your _names!"

"That's fine. I am Lily Evans, and this is Severus Snape."

"Snape," repeated the girl. "I think I've heard of your grandfather before."

"Yeah," I said chokingly.

"I haven't heard of you, though," she added to Lily.

"Oh, I'm Muggle born," said Lily nonchalantly. I turned sharply to Maria. "But she's the smartest girl in our year, I bet you," I told her fiercely. Maria looked me with momentary surprise, but then she smiled widely and happily. "Good, then Andromeda Black can have some competition."

I was very shocked at her reaction. Normally, wizards would shun Lily for that. Maria didn't seem like a normal wizard, though……..

"Of course, she is a 6th year," she continued, "But you can beat her score in the N.E.W.T.s," she assured her.

"What's a N.E.W.T?"

And so, for the next few hours, I had more fun than I did even with Lily. Maria turned out to be extraordinarily smart, and a great conversationalist. Lily and her were often having one sided conversations, but I didn't mind. When the lunch trolley had come around, I had stocked up on Cauldron Cakes and Drooble's gum. While I ate these, I was able to contemplate the current situation. Maria seemed even more beautiful than was humanly possible. It just didn't seem like my opinion. Her beauty seemed more like a fact. In fact, if she had silvery blond hair and glowing skin, I would have thought her a Veela.

"It's getting dark," she remarked. I looked out the window. Indeed, the sky was darkening quickly. "We'd better get rid of our candy trash."

"You're right," I agreed.

"Alright, Snivellus, I know you took it!"

Our compartment door had been slid open, and the long haired boy and the hyena-ish boy were standing there.

"Took what?" I snapped.

"My compass, you twit! You saw it in my hand, and you took it!!!"

"Don't' talk to him like that!" interjected Lily. "And wash your hair, you dog!"

"We can talk to him however we want, right, Sirius?" said the short haired boy, smirking down at Lily.

"Oh, shut up."

"Don't tell James to shut up!"

"I can tell him whatever I want!"

"Where is it?" snapped the tall boy, whipping out his wand, and bearing down upon me.

"WILL YOU ALL SHUT THE HECK UP?!"

We all looked at Maria. She was standing, and her face was flushed. She was glaring at Sirius. "Don't talk to my friends like that, or I'll cut your hair for you!" she whipped out her wand as well.

"Hey, listen lady, we don't want any trouble. Just give up the compass, and we'll be free to go," said James. I was a little surprised. he was looking at her like she was any other girl. I thought that James would be affected by her beauty. I turned towards Sirius.

"We don't have your stupid compass!"

"Look," began Sirius; he had made his voice low and husky, and messed up his hair so he looked even more carelessly handsome that before, "No one is making _you_ do anything. I mean, I highly doubt that _you_ would have stolen anything of_ mine!" _ He put a very strong and husky emphasis on "you."

"And who are you?" she snapped.

"Sirius Scorpius Black," he said pompously, holding out his hand. "I'm gonna be in Slytherin. I guess someone as smart as you would be going there, too?"

"Over my dead body."

"I can't see why you would rather hang out with greasy nosed Snevellus, when you could sit with me, and my friend?"

"_My_ friends aren't arrogant little toe rags."

Friend. She considered _me_ a _friend_! I had been very deprived of friends, and I was proud to be friends with someone as nice as Lily was.

"Yeah, so buzz off!" added Lily.

"I'll be back for my compass," snapped Sirius to me. "See ya around, Maria," he added, smirking, before closing the door.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE GONNA BE IN SLYTHERIN?" we hear outside the glass. I snickered, and Lily soon joined me, followed by Maria. Soon, we were all laughing hard and happy. I was laughing because I had finally found to beautiful friends, inside and out.


	3. Enough

"I can't believe this, Maria! We're gonna be Sorted!"

I smiled. After getting off the Hogwarts express, Lily, Maria and I went up to the castle in little boats led by Rubeus Hagrid, the huge bloke with the dark brown beard. I liked him. Now we were all just outside of the Great Hall, waiting to be Sorted. Maria and Lily were standing side by side in the front row. Apparently Maria's mysterious last name began with something "A through L."

"Quiet, please," said an older looking lady with glossy black hair and a stern expression. She had told us her name was Professor McGonagall. "Wait here while I alert the headmaster of your arrive. She bustled out of the room. I thought her posture was distinctly feline, and wanted to ask Lily what she thought later when she wasn't whispering to Maria.

"Severus," whispered the honey haired girl, turning her smooth face in my direction, her topaz eyes shining with happiness, "what house do you want to be in?"

"Slytherin," I mouthed back. Then I pointed to her, and drew a question mark in the air.

"Whatever house that greasy haired kid isn't," she hissed, scrunching up her face in disgust. I laughed quietly.

"I hope that kid with the glasses isn't in Slytherin, either," added Lily quietly, and she laughed. Maria's laugh was entirely different from Lily's. While Lily's was high and giggly, Maria's was breathtakingly sweet, like a bird being released form its cage, or a silver bell on Christmas Eve. I was getting determined to find anything about this girl that wasn't stunning.

"We are ready for you now," said Professor McGonagall, gesturing towards the Great Hall. "Come along."

I almost tripped over my robes in excitement and nervousness. What if me and Lily were separated? What exactly were the chances of her getting into Slytherin, anyway? She wasn't coy, or shrewd, of furtive. She's just, Lily Evans. I highly doubted that Maria was getting into Slytherin. I remember her talking about how all her family has either been in Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw. She was very clever, so I was leaning towards Ravenclaw.

I hardly noticed the doors being opened. I heard the "ooo's" and "ahh's" of my peers, but I didn't see anything. I was about to loose the only friends I have ever had, I was sure of it! Lily would go to Ravenclaw along with Maria, and I would be left alone. I could hardly bear it. I saw Maria glance behind at me. She was looking at me with the strangest expression. It said very clearly, if you want to be in Ravenclaw, or if me and Lily want to be in Slytherin, then it will happen. Her eyes were narrowed slightly, and her lips mouthed, "We want to be with you."

Now, I must say that I never do three things: laugh, smile, or cry. On this very day, when I had met Maria, when Maria and Lily defended me from Sirius, and now, when Maria had expressed her loyalty to me, when she barely knew me or Lily, I almost cried. This was probably the most wonderful day of my preteen existence.

"Now when I call your name," said the professor, standing at the front of the large hall holding a scroll of paper, "you will come forth, and I will place the Sorting Hat on your head," she gestured towards a beaten down old hat sitting on a high stool, "and you will be Sorted into your houses. Abbot, Lilian," she said first, and a frightened looking girl with curly blonde hair walked to the front of the Hall. I swallowed. This was it. This was where we would separate. But this was also where I would spend the rest of my school days. In this respect I was elated.

"Black, Sirius," she cried out. I looked to the front. The handsome cocky boy from the train sauntered up to the front, and he easily climbed up on the stool. She placed the hat on his long black hair.

"Hmmm, right, then, hmmm, I see. You want to be in the same house. Huh, a Black, in a different house, this is extraordinary. Well, if you're sure. Griffindor!" the hat cried out. I heard Maria and Lily groan in unison. The same house as whom? I wondered. After a few more names, Lily was called, and I gave her a thumbs-up as she walked to the front. The moment the hat was placed on her wavy red hair, it shouted, "Griffindor!"

I groaned. I knew it. This was it. I saw Lily give me a sad smile as she skipped towards her table. I tried to smile back. I looked to the front, and saw Maria looking at me. "I'm sorry, Sev," she whispered. "I might be in Sly-"

"Van Hellsing, Maria!"

The effect of this particular name was great. The teachers began to mutter to each other, and the students were stage whispering, "Blimey, Maria van Hellsing!" Maria froze, and didn't finish her sentence. Professor McGonagall had to call her name again before Maria went up to the front. Her smooth face was beet red, and her body shook as she made it up to the front. I heard her say to Professor McGonagall as she sat down, "I'm sorry."

I didn't understand what was with this girl and saying sorry? She didn't seem like she was doing anything wrong. The hat was placed on her head.

"Hmm," said the hat, glancing around the room while Maria stared, frightened, up at the old beaten hat. "Victoria Kiera's daughter, aren't you? Now, I see that you have your mother's timid thoughts on school- wait, you don't want- but you could be so great there, where your father prospered…."

I saw Maria flinch under the black clothe.

"You could be great, you know, you could grow up to be strong, and intim- wait, I've never thought of it that way, you don't-"

The hat grew quiet as it listened to her silent thoughts.

"You want what others already have, my dear. But, I suppose that isn't the fate….you _are_ very different from Kera after all…"

At the name, many of my fellow peers gasped. Kera Kiera was a famous witch who drove many young mortal men insane with her beauty.

"I know…….."

We all held our breathe as Maria closed her eyes, Lily crossed her fingers, and I prayed to god she would be with me in Sly-

"Griffindor!"

I groaned. Again. Maria's tense face relaxed, and I saw some first years in the crowd push their hair back, or straighten their robes, to get her attention. Guess which house quickly filled up quickly with boys?

I saw that Maria looked extremely relieved, and I was happy for it. I however, was not relieved. She and Lily were gone.

When Maria went to sit at the Griffindor table, I saw Sirius Black, who had been staring at the candles in the middle of the table in a bored fashion, straighten up and make room for her on the seat next to him. she glanced at him, then determinedly sat next to a red headed boy named Derek Hansworthy. I smiled for a small second at his insulted expression.

"Snape, Severus!"

Griffindor, Griffindor, Griffindor. I thought this word with every step I took. I didn't care if all my family had been in Slytherin. I wanted Griffindor.

As the hat was placed on my head, I swear I glimpsed Albus Dumbledore looking right at me. He was looking at me with an expression of pity and wonder. His electric, piercing blue eyes bored deep into my soul. I saw him nod at me as I sat down, and the hat was placed on my head.

"You are lying to yourself," whispered the hat. I jumped. The hat wasn't talking loudly like it had to everyone else. It seemed to whisper inside of my head, as though…..

"As though I was only talking to you?" asked the hat suddenly. I nodded. "You are lying to yourself. The girls you like will be safe, can you trust me?"

I wanted so badly to say yes.

"She loves you like a friend," it continued, and I felt a shiver down my spine. I knew he was referring to Maria. "Will that be enough for you right now?"

"Yes," I thought, with all my might as the hat screamed "Slytherin!" with all it's energy. "It will be enough," I whispered, seeing Maria's gleaming rosy face against Lily's pale and freckled one, the last time I would ever see those faces. "It will be enough."

In the back ground, Dumbledore smiled.

**End of Part 1**


	4. Dinner of Dislike

**Part 2: First Year**

"Let the Feast begin!" said Albus Dumbledore loudly. All the students in the Great Hall smiled ravenously as food suddenly appeared on their golden plates. Everyone was happily eating the delicious concoctions the chefs had prepared: Puddings of every possible color, every flavor of ice cream, perfectly seasoned potatoes, chicken, and pork good enough to be eaten at Christmas time.

"Can you believe this?" whispered Lily to the brown-haired girl sitting next to her. "All this food! Have you ever eaten this much?"

"No, I haven't," replied Maria. She was delicately spooning small portions of everything in her mouth, while her red-haired friend was wolfing her food down hungrily. "My family and I never had very much food. We had to go without dessert most of the time."

"Couldn't you just make more food appear?" asked Lily innocently.

"It's more complicated than that," drawled a bored voice by Maria. She turned to her left, and found herself looking at the arrogant face of Sirius Black.

"For your information, my mother wanted to teach me something known as morals, _Sirius Scorpius Black_," she responded coolly. "And I don't believe we invited you into our conversation."

"You were talking so loud we couldn't help but over hear," snapped James Potter, leaning over his tall friend. "And it_ is_ more complicated than that," added Sirius with a small smirk.

"How so?" asked Maria, repositioning her body so it faced him.

"Your mother _worked_ to bring home the galleons. And you _can't_ just make food appear out of thin air."

"As true as that is, don't listen in on a persons private conversation," said Maria, turning away from him.

"I'm sorry, but what's your name again?"

The two girls turned towards a short boy with a pointed nose and a pudgy face. He had short, stubby reddish blonde hairs pointing out of his pale head. His small eyes were looking questioningly at the girl. "Mine?" asked Maria, pointing at herself. He nodded. "Maria," she responded quickly. She ducked her head and starting eating hurriedly.

"Maria _Van Hellsing_," interjected Sirius again. Maria glared at him. "I don't think everyone needs to be aware of my full name," she snapped, and turned her body to face Lily.

"I'm Peter, anyway," added the boy, sticking out his hand to her. It was covered in chocolate pudding. "Nice to meet you," responded Maria with an awkward smile. The boy looked a little dazed as her lips parted in a kind smile. "Uh, I'm, um, sorry for asking about your name, anyway," he apologized feverishly. "I just, er, really like your name. It's pretty."

"Um, thank you, Peter-?"

"Pettigrew," he said proudly, smiling at her. "Peter Pettigrew."

"Now _that's _not a pretty name," said Sirius, and James roared with laughter.

"Excuse me," interjected Maria, frowning at him. Her smooth forehead pushed together in the act of looking angry. Sirius smiled at her, a look of mock concern on his face. "Are you intent on traumatizing every single kind person I meet at this school, _Scorpious_?"

"Only the one's who are ugly," he retorted. He went back to his plate. "Oh, and I like the nickname," he added, looking down at her with teasing in his eyes, "_Mar_."

"Oh, my, gosh," she mumbled, turning away from him. Peter Pettigrew was looking in awe at the two Gryffindors. "You two are so clever," he murmured, looking forlornly at his plate of chicken pot pie.

"Why, my dear Pettigrew, that was so true, there may be hope for you yet."

"The word he was searching for was _arrogant_, Scorpius," interjected Lily. Her neck was strained to the breaking point with the effort of trying to see Severus Snape across the Great Hall.

"I'm sure he's fine, Lil," Maria reassured, patting her on the arm.

"Why'd you two hang out with him, anyway?" questioned James with his mouth full of mashed potatoes.

"I still can't understand why you would want to hang around him, when you could have joined our compartment," added Sirius to Maria again. Before she could even respond, a small scoff was heard to Peter's left.

"I can't believe these parsnips."

Maria, Lily, Sirius, and peter turned to find themselves looking at a very strange girl. Her small almond shaped eyes were looking disgustedly at the food on her plate. She had brownish white skin, skin that was dark enough to be Mexican. Her dark hair reach past her shoulders, and was pitch black. She had bangs that could just cover her thin eyebrows. Her lips looked like they were carved they were so perfect. And she wore pounds and pounds of make-up. Maria was looking at her curiously. She seemed to see past the make-up, into the face of a rather pretty young girl.

"How can you eat that?" she demanded, pointing at Peter's small plate. He stuttered, until Sirius broke the conversation. "Oh, sure, you let_ her_ interrupt our conversations, but not me?" he asked Maria.

"Don't worry. Only the ones who are fun to be around."

"Ouch, thanks a lot, Mar."

"And don't call me that!"

The clink of Professor McGonagall's fork against her goblet interrupted their heated conversation. "Your attention, please," she said loudly and clearly. Every head in the hall turned towards hers. Professor Dumbledore stood, his long silver beard glinting in the bright, magical room. His piercing blue eyes surveyed the students with a look of deepest affection. "I ask your forgiveness for interrupting this apparently delicious feast." The students giggled while the teachers remained stony faced and silent. "To our new comers, welcome, and the same salutation to our old students; I ask that you follow our rules here, as they are crucial and possibly necessary for your safety. I would first like to introduce our new caretaker here, Mr. Argus Filch," he indicated a sour-looking man standing in the corner. He had shoulder length yellowish brown hair, pasty skin, and an unpleasant frown where his brown teeth were halfway bared. "I ask that you do not enter the forbidden forest, unless you wish to upset the kind teachers here, or injure yourself severely, both emotionally and physically. New Quidditch try-outs will be held in a fortnight, and anyone wishing to apply need only contact their Head of House. I wish all of you the best of year that is both educational and safe. Let us now continue enjoying this splendid feast without further interruptions."

Desserts suddenly appeared on the plates. Treacle tart, ice cream of every flavor, and the most scrumptious vanilla pudding was quickly devoured. The students continued eating until the food disappeared, then Lily, Maria, and the rest of the students went up to their dormitories.

"I call the big one!" yelled Lily when they entered their room. The Gryffindor bedrooms were small, but the beds were extravagant and all looked an equal size. She jumped on the bed farthest against the wall. Maria laughed. "They're all the same, girl," remarked their dark-haired escort, a prefect by the name of Susan, before she shut the door. Once she was gone, Lily and Maria looked at each other, and then burst out laughing. Maria then went to sit on a crimson bedspread next to Lily's one. "Hogwarts," she murmured, before grabbing some pajamas from her trunk. "Hogwarts," sighed Lily as she climbed into her largest bed a while later. Maria drew her curtains when she knew Lily was asleep. She lay in bed, looking out the window by her bed. She saw the stars shining outside, and thought of Severus. His coal black eyes seemed to glint with kindness as Lily's did. She thought him sweet and nice to converse with, and missed him dearly. After a few minutes, the door opened, and the voices of three other girls were heard throughout the room. Maria ignored them as she looked into the dazzling night sky. "Gryffindor," she mumbled to herself as she drifted off into a serene, peaceful sleep.


	5. Disclaimer

Hi everyone, I just wanted to let you know I will be putting my other stories on hold to work on Don't You Know That You're Toxic. I may or may not pick up on the other stories, I'm not sure yet, but please come and read the said story! Thank You!

-Ruler of all Vampires


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